John Cena's retirement tour in World Wrestling Entertainment is in its final stretches, with only three scheduled appearances left for The Greatest of All Time.
At the moment, Cena is advertised for the November 10 episode of Monday Night Raw, the November 17th episode after that, WWE Survivor Series: WarGames on November 29th, and the grand finale taking place on the December 13th edition of WWE Saturday Night's Main Event.
It's entirely possible Cena wrestles on all four dates, but it is far more realistic he only steps into the ring on the two special events, not WWE Raw, which will probably be used to set up whoever his opponent will be for at least Survivor Series, if not also Saturday Night's Main Event. Of course, that's not stopping him from wrestling while on Raw in an impromptu match, as he's done on Friday Night SmackDown.
Nevertheless, Cena has four opponents left, at most, before calling it a career. Who he fights for that final spot, in particular, is still a hot button issue, as everyone wants to know who will be the person to retire The Franchise Player.
Who stands the best chance at standing across the ring from Cena at that show? Here's a breakdown of some of the options.
The Fan Votes
Many fans are spitting out almost any names they can think of. To varying degrees, you have completely out of left field and wholly irrational ideas floated about like Jon Moxley and Hiroshi Tanahashi suggested by some folk, which just will not happen.
A sizable collection of fans have also convinced themselves Adam Copeland is not on All Elite Wrestling television at the moment because he's jumping ship from AEW in order to have one final Cena vs. Edge match. In reality, The Rated-R Superstar is missing in action is because he's filming for the Percy Jackson television series on Disney+. "Cope" is a justifiable term, as fans just have to accept he'll be back on Dynamite and Collision soon enough, not appearing for TKO in this capacity.
The same goes for Chris Jericho. His absence at least comes with rumors that WWE could be wanting to sign him to do a retirement tour of some kind. Whether that is completely unfounded gossip that has no actual credibility or not remains to be seen, but it's at least something worth thinking about. Jericho is one of Cena's greatest rivals, after all. However, that takes a leap not just in the idea of signing Y2J, but doing so in time for December 13th, AND having him be that person, instead of doing something else entirely. Those are major hurdles that are unlikely to be jumped over.
Others are hoping to see another match with Cody Rhodes, Randy Orton, CM Punk, or Brock Lesnar happen. That's unlikely, given how they've already done those fights, and there are plenty other people to work with before doubling up on something.
Every person on the roster has a chance, but for the most part, it's easy to dismiss the vast majority. As great as someone like Penta is, or however popular LA Knight and Jey Uso are, there isn't much to sink your teeth into when picking them as the final opponents. What's the hook? That actually takes most of the roster out of the running.
The last person to rule out from the fan picks would be Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. If The Rock doesn't want to, or isn't capable of, working out the deal to appear more often and to get a match against Roman Reigns, why would it even be up for discussion that he would do this match with Cena on the whim? Admittedly, he's the reason the heel turn was triggered, and it would make some sense for storyline purposes, but WWE has done more to distance themselves from all of that in months than to remind fans, and it's just not easy to bank on Johnson showing up anymore.
What the Oddsmakers Have to Say
Many offshore sportsbooks are getting in on the action of trying to predict who John Cena's final opponent will be, setting certain names to varying degrees of probability.
One name that consistently shows up is "Dirty" Dominik Mysterio, who many have at +6250 or 1.58% implied probability odds. Mysterio's name continues to be brought up in the rumor mill as an opponent for Cena, but there are more reports suggesting that would happen sooner, rather than as the big finale. Cena would instead be—supposedly—beating Mysterio for the Intercontinental Championship either on one of those episodes of Raw or at Survivor Series, before going on to defend the title up until his last match.
If there are indeed plans to have Mysterio fight Cena, this at least puts him within the discussion, which is more than could be said about most Superstars.
Bron Breakker is surprisingly not on many odds lists, despite how WWE is making a big deal out of him being the next big thing. A win over Cena, retiring the 17-time world champion, would be a major tip of the cap in putting Breakker in that main event level.
But the real person to watch out for is "The Ring General", Gunther, who also retired Goldberg at a previous Saturday Night's Main Event. Currently sitting at -275 US odds with a 78.75 implied probability, rumors have suggested Gunther will win some kind of tournament to earn the right to challenge and defeat Cena at Saturday Night's Main Event. Given how much of a priority Gunther is to modern day WWE, he is surely the safest bet.
There are also odds out there for if Cena wins or loses this match, if he's inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame class of 2026, and even if he breaks the retirement over or under 3.5 years.
Be sure to check out coverage of Cena's last few appearances here at Smark Out Moment.
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